North Koreans sweltering through a nationwide heat wave are flocking to an unlikely refuge: abandoned coal mine shafts. A source in South Pyongan province told Daily NK in 2026 that people in Kaechon are gathering at old mine entrances to escape the heat. Chronic power shortages leave most households without any way to run cooling devices.
Kaechon is one of North Korea’s major coal-producing areas. Large mines cluster throughout the region. Miners have dug many tunnels there to extract coal over the years. Once a tunnel’s coal ran out, workers closed it and moved on, leaving behind an abandoned shaft.
According to the source, these abandoned shafts sit in areas thick with trees. Cold air constantly flows out from deep underground. The entrances stay cool through the hottest days of summer. Local people say there is no better place to beat the heat.
“At first it was mostly elderly people looking for somewhere cool,” the source said. “They gathered one or two at a time near the mine entrances.” Word soon spread. Parents began bringing young children, and even people from the city center started making the trip. Now the entrances draw crowds.
People bring mats and folding chairs to the mine entrances during the hottest hours of the day. They rest, chat and cool off there, according to the source.
Getting a good spot has become competitive
The source described a kind of jockeying for position that has emerged as word has spread. “These days it’s so hot that people are searching everywhere for shade,” the source said. “Word has gotten around that the coolest spots are the mine entrances. People are rushing to claim the best spots early.” City center residents are even envious of people in the coal-mining villages, the source said.
The trend is closely tied to North Korea’s unreliable electricity supply. Households cannot run fans or cooling units for long stretches. As a result, people are turning not only to valleys and riverbanks but also to mine shafts and tunnel entrances. They will seek out anywhere shaded or breezy enough to offer relief.
Some have raised safety concerns, including the risk of a collapse. But the source said people enduring the stifling heat are not paying much attention to those warnings.
“In past years, you could sometimes see people resting near mine entrances during the hottest stretches,” the source said. “But this year, even people from the city center are showing up in large numbers. It’s created a crush rarely seen before. As the heat wave drags on, people are going to keep heading for the abandoned mines.”
Reporting from inside North Korea
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